Well we would be VERY HUNGRY is we actually had to live off the land… Kolby said we would probably be eating a lot more oysters. I said I would probably try to cook seaweed – he made quite the face. Here are some of the things we were successful with:
Oysters from the fresh water lagoon up Pendrell Sound.
Ground is covered in oysters, ready for the picking
Huckleberries from just about everywhere, but the best haul was at Eagle Lake off Big Bay, Stuart Island.
Juicy huckleberries
Wild peas, from Moh Creek, up Bute Islet which turned into a delicious Prawn and Wild Pea pasta salad.
Fresh peas from Moh Creek
Lovely Prawn and Pea salad
Sea asparagus, wild mint and wild parsley from Thurston Bay, which turned into Sea Asparagus and Mushrooms and Nugget Potatoes with Wild Parsley. The wild mint I used in a mint and cucumber infusion. Sadly the pears and apples weren’t ripe yet.
Sea Asparagus is very salty -still can't find a good way to cook it!
Mint infusion
Prawns, from most anchorages, but the best haul was 18 from Nodales Channel, off a fish farm by Sonora Island.
Prawns on the bow at anchor in Octopus Islands
Crabs, which we only caught off the mud flat of Sandy Island, by Comox.
Our first crab haul
Crabs and prawns for supper
We did catch a cat in the crab trap, but we decided she could go free.
Caught a Tezi
We have officially christened the dinghy ‘Otto’, as a derivative of the Finnish word for vehicle *auto*. Thought we would stay on the Finnish theme, as Asunto is Finnish for home. And Otto just seemed right. We love Otto. He took us so many places we never would have explored without him. All of these trips were several nautical miles, and some over rough seas!
First there was the exploration of Malaspina and Lancelot Inlet, then the trip up to the end of Pendrell Sound from Walsh Cove.
Paradise Island, up Lancelot Inlet
Oyster Cove, Pendrell Sound
Next he saw us safely through the Yucata rapids from Dent Island to Big Bay.
Yucata's by Big Bay, running at about 10 knots
Further north, Otto took Kolby scuba diving off the east side of Helmken Island in Johnstone Straight, before we circumnavigated the island and played in the rapids off the north end.
Otto makes dinghy diving easy
Race Passage rapids
He took us from Cameleon Harbour to Thurston Bay on Sonora Island to explore streams.
Exploring Thurston Bay
Further south he carried us across Rebecca spit to Heriot Bay for ice cream and Sea Bone Island (name by us).
Otto anchored off 'Seal bone Island"
Heriot Bay - public wharf on the left, lodge docks on the right
To the south of Comox is Sandy Island, where we anchored Asunto. Otto diligently brought us to the harbour of Comox to explore the very sleepy ‘downtown’ (2906).
Tie up at Comox Harbour
Not to mention all the different places we took Otto to drop the prawn and crab traps!
Prawns in Waddington Channel
First crabs off Sandy Island
Sadly, on July 27, Otto’s seat met its demise in the Strait of Georgia. The welds that held the seat to its posts had been breaking all trip, and the rough seas were the final straw. Kolby lashed down the seat for the rest of the journey and is currently trying to jerryrig something with 2x4s!
Kyber is great at looking out. He is particularly interested in seals, dolphins and small mammals on shore.
Leaving Octopus Islands
Watching for movement on shore through 'Hole in the Wall' rapids
Fog up Bute Inlet
Sniffing for land
Watching a seal off Helmkeln Island
Lookout up Malaspina Inlet
With a last minute decision to bring the crab and prawn traps, we took the dinghy over to Granville Island on Saturday morning to purchase a fishing license. $24 later and we were determined to live off the land. our fist seafood venture in the Copelands was very successful: during a dinghy adventure we found a cove where you could simply pluck the oysters from the beach, no tools required. Fresh oysters on the BBQ:
Our next stop was a nook up Malaspina Inlet. We drop the prawn trap in 300 ish feet of water off Sarah point, mainly because there were already 3 others pots down. We also dropped the crab trap in 30ish feet by an oyster farm (Kristine had some notion that sea life was in abundance around these farms). After a trek to the lake/bog, we stuffed our face with salmon berries and I harvested sea apparatus to eat with the crab I was certain we would catch. However when we went for the crab trap it it was gone, not to be seen at all. Perplexed we went home and I cooked up the sea asparagus to eat with out previously frozen, Atlantic caught cod. So far this living off the land thing would leave us very hungry. Sea asparagus in the pan:
In the morning we decided to look for our crab pot once more and sure enough, there it was. Turns out the tide and come up and the weight of the pot had sunk the float. Gleefully we pulled it up. It felt heavy… but it was full of big, orange sea stars. Ah well, we still had the prawn trap.
Using the anchor windlass we pulled the trap over the bow roller. 300′ is a lot of line. Forever later I could see the prawn trap- there was something in it!!! Bring it on deck, and nada. Just an unlucky rock cod and a tiny crab.
Since then we have dropped the prawn trap 4 more times, in various places and Walsh Cove. Loot is as follows:
1) 1 prawn, 3 weird crayfish/crabs,
2) 7 prawns, 25 weird crayfish/crabs,
1 rock cod.
3) 1 ghost shrimp
4) 3 prawns
Still waiting for the mother load. We did collect a few more oysters from Pendrell sound. They were small and delicious, and not of the Pacific oyster variety. Kolby figures they are escapees from oyster farms. Now we are heading for Teakerne Arm, our last Deso stop before heading North. I hope our seafood haul increases once we leave these nutrient poor waters!
We are off! We left the dock at 5:30 this afternoon, ready to start our two week vacation with an overnight passage. This is the second time when have done an overnight trip (not counting sailing on Paikea Mist in Fiji). The first overnighter was in Georgia Dawn, and was quite the night. We were about half way up Malaspina Straight when my shift started. The wind had picked up in the straight and the waves were building. It was a cold night, and I was bundled up in a blanket in our cockpit. As the waves grew and out boat speed slowed Georgia Dawn was making a fuss and crashing into each wave, water frequently pouring over the bow. I was too short to brace myself in the cockpit and resigned myself to sliding forward and back with each wave. It was a bit nauseating really. It wasn’t too long after that Kolby calls up to me ‘My feet are getting wet!’. At this point we are making 1.9-2 knots. What the the eff? I’m thinking ‘wet feet!’. Turns out water is seeping from the anchor locker access hatch onto the bed and subsequently Kolby’s feet. Turns out, for whatever logic we do not understand, no one had seen fit to drill a nice little drain hole from the anchor locker and we were taking on water over the bow. Trying to sort out what to do, Kolby remembers seeing a hose with a ball valve on it in a bilge on the head. At the time he had noticed it and apparently filed it away in his brain as ‘odd but probably has a purpose.’ As it turns out, the purpose was to drain the anchor locker. Only problem was the hose did not reach the main bilge. So there is Kolby, ‘off shift’ draining the anchor locker into buckets and pouring the buckets down the sink.
It wasn’t too long after this that I learnt about tugs towing log barges. Well mainly I learnt that if a tug has his tow lights on, he really is towing, even if you can’t see his load. Anyway we made it to Savory Island by 8 or 9 in the morning, no harm done.
Tonight it somewhat similar, except for the taking on water part. … 3 1/2 hours later… Just as I was finishing that story the winds started to build. As if I had reminded them or something. Next thing I knew we had 25 knot headwind and 4 foot waves. Is it us?! Or I this typical Malaspina Straight overnight weather? We had the main sail up so I took over from auto and head steered the next two hours, doing between 3-4 knots under sail. 2 knots when we hit a wave. 0.9 when we hit a big one. I did keep the main underpowered though, felt prudent when sailing at night. And when I saw 31 knots I wasn’t feeling super confident. Asunto took it all in stride though. No wet feet.
Before the wind came, we were treated to following winds, calm seas and the Aurora Borealis dancing in the sky. The flash lightening off to the north was a little freaky, especially after hearing about a boat that was hit by lightening… I never came any closer.
Now it is 4:30 and there is light on the horizon. The moon is a perfect sliver framed by two stars (or are they planets? note: must learn basic astrology). The seas have flattened now but it is still blowing 18 knots. Looking behind me it looks like we sailed through some pretty dark clouds. I’d guess they were responsible for the wild ride.
It wasn’t until we went sailing on Georgia Dawn that we realized sailing could be relaxing. Trickster was always fun, but SOMETHING was always going wrong.
Sailing on Asunto is something else entirely. Every little trip is a mini vacation. We’ve had some great trips in June and early July.
In June we took Kristine’s Australian cousin Tyson, her brother and her brother’s girlfriend to Bowen island. While we hiked the island and ate ice cream, Kolby did the Race Round Bowen. With 100 boats in the race, it was a great starting line. On the way home, Tyson had fun sailing Asunto in 15-20 knot winds out of Howe Sound.
Race Round Bowen 2012
We have also had quiet weekends on Gambier and most recently Keats. We spent the long weekend on Gabriola visiting Kolby’s family before trundling down to Montague Harbour on Galiano. With our nifty new dinghy, we could zoom across to Ganges on Saltspring. Kyber was not too impressed with the trip. At one point he tried to lie down under the seat, but quickly aborted that plan when we hit a wave and he hit the bottom of the seat… We even enjoyed a picnic dinner and watched the sunset. Like I said, relaxing.
Ganges Harbour - Happy Canada Day!
Now we are less than a week away from our two week holiday. We are so ready to head north and explore!
Howe Sound Sunset
Misadventure before we even leave the marina:
Due to the star-shaped docks in the marina, our slip is very tricky to get in and out of, and requires about 3 helpers and the boat to make a 90 degree pivot around the end I our dock. We don’t have bow thrusters. So we run a line from the bow to a dock piling and Kristine pulls the boat around by hand. Only we don’t have a long enough line, so Kolby ties two lines together. However this time Kristine set everything up before Kolby was home from work. See where this is going? Her ‘bowline’ came undone, she landed on her butt and we had to rely in two strong guys to pivot the boat using the midship line. Oh and it was gusty. Very embarrassing, for Kristine at least.
Mannion Bay Mayhem
Bowen Island:
We love Bowen. As an island it has everything going for it: great hiking trails, a lake, a coffee and ice-cream shops, and it’s close to Vancouver. However, Friday was the first time we have anchored there in years. Why you ask? Because the bay has become the new home of all the derelicts that were kicked out of False Creek an couldn’t make it to Nanaimo to live among the squalor off Newcastle Island. And if that isn’t bad enough, everyone and there dog has put a bouy down in the bay. So even if it looks empty you have to navigate around the 100 floating fenders. Oh and most of the bay is 70-200 feet deep, minimizing the available space. After much fussing and cursing we anchored in 60 ft in the north end, after we watched a barge drop YET ANOTHER bouy down. Ridiculous.
Happy Dogs
Saturday morning I took the dogs (yes dogs, we are puppy sitting Lucy and now have 2 dogs on board) to Kilnary Lake and we enjoyed the lovely weather.
To Gambier:
Leaving the tangled mess of Bowen for Halcett Bay on Gambier, we attempted to sail, but the wind and tide was not in our favor. Kristine attempted to anchor and got as far as practicing some anchoring maneuvering, but lost confidence when the wind picked up. Plus there is that unmarked rock that we are vary wary of. Maybe next time.
Just Hangin'
On board sewing - Exciting!
Our boat todo list:
Written while on the hook in Halcett. It’s long. we will type it up and post it another day. Kristine is going to attempt most of it over the summer. Writing out the list inspired her to cross something off, so we finished the LED wiring in the cockpit and Kristine sewed Velcro onto the cushion (no more sailing cushion mayhem) and fixed the manual bilge pump. Not that our list got any shorter. We essentially crossed off three items but added four more. C’est le vie.
Sailing home:
She's a Sailing Ship!
We actually stuck with it and sailed out of Howe Sound with and inflow and SE wind. We probably tacked over 10 times, including the one emergency tack when Kristine looked over her shoulder and saw a ferry barreling towards us. As Kolby points out it wasn’t THAT close, but we did have to tack RIGHT AWAY. Sucker came out of nowhere. All the tacking was good for the dogs, who eventually settled down for the ride. Wouldn’t it be great to teach your dog to switch side when the skipper called out ‘tacking’?!
Well it’s May long weekend again. We have been madly finishing up some of our boat chores and are ready for a vacation.
Our new sea anchor
The forecast is windy, the Straight of Georgia has a wind warning for the entire weekend, with winds from predominately the southeast. The tides are strong, with the full moon falling on the Sunday, and flooding in the afternoon. Pretty much the worst combination for heading north. But, or course, always seeking seclusion, north we go.
We left the dock on Friday around 6:30 and plotted a course for Plumper Cove on Keats. Kolby has our autopilot connected to the chart plotter so it will follow a track. Very nice! However, Kristine was so anxious to get into the bay before nightfall she repeatedly took over to cut corners and ‘save time’.
Anchoring at dusk: double the fun on a long weekend in a popular anchorage.
Kolby: ‘Kristine go up front and watch for boats or floats’
Kristine: ‘Head for the Bayliner, I think we can anchor over there’
Kolby (angry): ‘I can’t see or hear you.’
Kristine: mumbles something sarcastic and opens the front panel on the dodger
Kolby: ‘Brilliant. You’re a genius!’ (ed note: conversation may not be recorded verbatim)
Anyway that’s the just of it. We anchored nestled between a mammoth yacht and a log boom. Cozy. Good thing it wasn’t windy.
Peek-a-boo
Saturday and Sunday morning we spent in our favorite bay. Alone. Not another boat on the horizon. We often wonder why we are the only boat in this anchorage- however it is fully exposed to the straight. We have decided not to name this place properly, but for the sake of a name we will call it Favorite Bay. It’s that’s special.
We spent Sunday night in the protection of Taylor Bay on Gabriola Island, where we met up with Kolby’s parents on the Tuggernaut (a Ranger 25). For once they had the weekend of misadventures, as ours had gone smoothly. They regaled us with tales of drifting dinghies, catapulting from kayaks and the general mayhem of small boats in big waves.
Sailing in 20-26 knots of wind: yep it was a windy crossing. And never one to pass up a ‘good sail’ we crossed the straight twice!s
Sailing disaster; the cushions need velcro!
Kolby; ‘are we crazy?’
Kristine: ‘probably, but why now?’
Kolby:’we are sailing a 50′ boat, with no formal sailing training, in winds gusting 26 knots.’
Kristine: ‘does that make us crazy or confident? Plus I’ve sailed lots.’
Kolby: ‘you were 10′
Kristine: ’12’
Kolby: ‘I’m sticking with crazy’ (note: this was after the Incidence with the Hand)
The other sailing disaster
The Incidence with the Hand: on the first crossing of the straight, Kristine’s right hand learnt a painful, but important lesson. The genoa furling is under A Lot of stress. Initially we had the main out and the genoa reefed, but our boat speed was low and we couldn’t head much higher than 40 degrees to the wind without heeling far more than was comfortable. So we decided to switch the sails, reef the main and unfurl the genoa. All went well until Kristine uncleated the genoa furling line and BAM the sail was out.
Kolby: ‘are you ok?’
Kristine: ‘yes, but I’ve hurt my hand.’
Kolby finishes winching in the sail
Kristine: ‘I will need the first aid kit- do you know where it is?’
Kolby: ‘yes’
Kristine: (impressed)
Kolby: (from below decks) ‘where’s the first aid kit?’
Kolby emerges victorious with the first aid kit and stumbles his way through a patch job, with copious instruction from Kristine, such as ‘you will need to open the box marked Wound Management to find gauze’.
Kolby: ‘I need to take a first aid course.’
As they say, all’s well that ends well, and Kolby ended it with a beautiful docking job. Home safe for another adventure.
Paikea Mist
We were lucky to have six weeks sailing the islands of Fiji on Kristine’s parent’s 50′ Benneteau Paikea Mist. Most of our non-sailing time was spent in the water; we did one or two scuba dives almost everyday.
Island boy from Totoya
Interestingly, we were one of the last boats to sail Fiji’s outer islands, the Lua Group, on the old permit system. In this system, boats had to apply for a permit to visit the outer islands. The permit was expensive and the paperwork was tricky to fill out and get to the proper officials for approval. The result is very few boats sail these islands, preserving the native Fijian way of life (and making the locals of some of the more remote islands incredibly excited to see you!). We were just leaving the last island when we were told boats no longer need a permit. Instead they will pay the local village a fee to anchor in their bay (in Fiji the village chief owns both the land and the water surrounding his village). This change will certainly create many new opportunities for the islanders.
Dive site
The sailing itself was fantastic experience for us. We did night shifts, sailed in big seas and big winds, navigated through coral reefs and anchored on various surfaces. Six weeks was also long enough for us to get a taste of the cruising lifestyle; we learned a bit about provisioning (their are no real stores in the Lau group, so we had to stock up for about 4 weeks), we caught fish, Kristine practiced cooking from cans, and we traded nicknacks for fresh food from the locals.
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